LAST season he was captain of the premiership winning Bushrangers Rebels and ran second in the AFL Central West's best and fairest count, but this year Harry Bowden has a new mission.
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He is once again captain and once again lining up in the ruck, but this year it is for a united Bathurst Bushrangers outfit.
With the return to a two-tier senior men's competition, Bushrangers are fielding just one combined side in the top grade.
Bowden, who got his introduction to the sport as an Auskicker before making his debut as a 10-year-old in the under 14s, is excited to see what that combined playing group can do. He's also not feeling any of the pressure that comes with being premiership favourites.
"I don't personally think there's pressure, I'm just happy I've got the chance to play with a lot of the guys who I haven't been able to over the years because of the split. I've got a heap of faith in the team," he said.
"It's been an interesting start, I was not sure really what to expect. It's nice to finally have our strongest team on the paddock now. It puts us in a pretty good spot and we've had a pretty pleasing start to the season so far."
The Bushrangers began their season with an 4-11-95 to 8-10-58 win over the Bathurst Giants then last Saturday thumped the Orange Tigers by 92 points in a rematch of the 2019 grand final.
Bowden said that Bushrangers are still working on cohesion given the new combinations, but he's certainly pleased with the way his side has started the four-team competition.
"People will have to play different roles now, people who were playing different roles with the split are now having to adapt to a new position," he said.
"But I think from the first two games it looks like it's working out pretty well."
The Bushrangers will once again meet the Bathurst Giants this Saturday and Bowden says his men have taken lessons from their round one clash.
In that contest it was tight early on - Bushrangers led by just two majors at the long break - so the goal for Bowden and his team-mates is to bring the intensity early.
The skipper shapes as a key given his ability to help win the ball at stoppages, but he also hopes his side can use the space of George Park 2 to their advantage, especially given it is a 16-a-side format this season.
"It always is a good contest again them. We were pretty happy with how the first game moved on from half-time, it was a bit missing in discipline in the second quarter," Bowden said.
"Once we were able to control the ball and moved it the way we wanted, it was the key and I think it will be the same thing this week, we need to get the ball moving forward and stick to our plan.
"They have a lot of young guys that love to have a run around, but hopefully it will suit us as well with our longer kicking. It worked well last weekend, there was so much space when you've got two players missing from the field you would normally have there, it opens it up."
First bounce is 2.30pm.